Residual Impact
by The Reborn Akatsuki
Summary: As the embers of the One Year War fade fierce fighting on earth between Zeon remnant forces and the Federation continue into the aftermath of the first Neo Zeon War. Amid the carnage is introspection for one pilot remarking upon her fate and her past. Sequel to Impact and side story to Soldier of Zeon and other assorted works.
1. Trauma and glory

**AN: Well the sequel to Impact, the first look at Yuuka post One Year War. More backstory and info dump, characterization and of course world building. While the prior story was not overly well received, indeed it got only minor attention hoisted upon it, this sequel was still penned. Why? Well it isn't as if the lead up to the eventual sequel can do itself.**

 **Pieces like this and other coming works will be used to craft the overall narrative of this little series of works I am writing and hopefully by the end it will have crafted a note worthy saga of UC lore and history. Further on the story this will actually not be solely a one shot, because if it was it would be nearly twice its current length. Instead it will be a two shot as the short blurb on the story said already. With that out of the way let's get down to it, I am growing weary of overly long author's notes so this one will be ended here with only one final point.**

 **Do enjoy.**

 **Disclaimer: I still don't own any legal rights relating to Gundam, and my talks with Bandai/Sunrise have yet to even begin so unfortunately it will likely persist in that fashion for a long while.**

* * *

 **February 9th, 0089**

 **Adyar, Indian Province, Earth**

 **1200 Hours**

Her scuffed and worn boots impacted the thickened and water clogged mud even as the downpour that was trenching the deary shithole of a town continued. Thankfully insulated in the compact layers of her overcoat, she could barely feel the chilled rain impacting the covered flesh. _'How long has it been like this?'_ How long had it been now? It seemed like months but in truth hadn't it been years? Ever since the fall of the old Principality, what was left of the Zeon Earth Occupational Forces had rallied in Africa...it had become a home to them, and it had remained that way for a decade. Though truth be told, she wasn't quite sure if she could label herself as a member of that once esteemed company, after all she had not been assigned to the **Second Descent Operation** , she had only come to Earth years after the war itself had ended.

 _'When old man Delaz finally ate the bullet the Feddies had saved for him.'_ In the aftermath of **Stardust** she had been left without anything, one of the few surviving officers who had remained within the Earth Sphere had rallied together a army to reclaim the glory of Zeon, only for it to end as...looking back, the only way it could-had they been fools? To believe that strike against the Federation would do what? Rally the homeland, to reignite the flames of war? If so they were disappointed, while the colony drop had been a success...the price paid for that strike had been dear, too many of Zeon's warriors had been lost in that struggle, the few survivors were only those that quit the field in dying embers of the operation by fleeing to the nearby Axis fleet. None the less she couldn't shake the sheer enjoyment she got out of watching that colony drop into the atmosphere, the impact of the artificial habit into the Earth below. The plume of fire and smoke visible from orbit, the destruction unleashed upon the Federation, she hoped that the colony had smashed into North America like a bolt from a wrathful Titan in ancient mythology. She still remembered the sensation of vertigo as her scanners continuously registered enemy and friendly suits, the chaos of that battle. Eruptions of flame raking across her monitor, having to spin her _Dra-C_ through the veritable tidal wave of warships and mobile suits the Federation had dispatched. Delaz had rallied hundreds to his cause by the end of **Stardust** , maybe twenty left that battlefield alive, _maybe_. And she had done her best to make sure as many Feddies had died that day as possible, that was her task after all. _'Just like you taught me sir...'_ she buried that lingering sense of connection beneath a hardened veneer, that was something that call all too easy, something she had been comfortable with most of her life. Not caring, about others, about anyone...she couldn't think about ' _him_ ' today.

Truth be told she didn't know what became of him just after **Operation Stardust,** presumably he had like many other Zeon made the long journey to distant Axis after the successful drop operation...continued to follow Haman Karn, and returned with her half a decade later... _'Did you die in her service? Do you yet live?'_ She in all likelihood would never know. It had been something of a miracle she supposed that she had even encountered him among those of Axis in the waning moments of Stardust. After all whom would have suspected that he would accompany the fleet to see off Admiral Karn's agreement with Delaz, perhaps due to their history he had insisted upon it, no matter the reason...for a few brief hours they were reunited and then separated. Despite her devotion, despite her longing to fight at his side once more she had declined his offer. He understood, she knew in that instance that he knew exactly why she was remaining behind. Rather then retreat to Axis like other survivors of the Delaz Fleet she had remained in system, she wouldn't wait for Haman's declaration of war. She had been taught differently after all, declarations of war, proclamations of engagement and battles were all meaningless words attached to the objective of killing the enemy, there were no rules to adhere to, there were no restrictions or limitations. _'Only a fool believes otherwise, that's what you always said.'_ She couldn't help but feel her lip curl upward even if ever slightly at the remembrance of how the _Captain_ approached combat.

She could have witnessed his fate personally had she accompanied him though, be aware if he yet lived or had died weeks, months or even years ago...if she was to have regrets that would be one of them. After all her mentor was hardly some stock standard pilot even if he never achieved anything above moderate renown or rank. To her eye he approached combat beautifully, with a cold utilitarian precision that was unmatched by any of the loftier more fanciful aces.

She had been taught by one of the legends of the old war, one of the most acclaimed aces of the Principality had instructed her on how to approach combat, how to view life as a soldier and how to take life without regret. Under his tutelage she had become a warrior, the final battle they had fought together may have been a decade past, and yet even so she remembered her own cowardice at A Baoa Qu, her unwillingness to conquer her own fear of the Federation horde that beset them, she shamed his teachings that day, she would never do so again. _'Even if you had ordered me to flee, I should have stayed and fought alongside you if I had...'_ That was why she fought, it was just as much apart of her as her quest for vengeance, to honor the legacy and memory of the man who had raised her up from the rank and file and instilled into her the duty of a soldier.

Not the command given to her by Delaz, not the mission she had accepted upon joining his fleet, but her own personal vengeance, for her teacher. She would see the Federation continue to bleed. Their war was not over yet, no matter what the fools and traitors back in Side Three proclaimed, no matter what the cowards in the Federation wanted to believe. Theirs was a struggle that was not even started...yet after the fall of Delaz, she had no leader, no purpose beyond immediate killing, she was no fool. She would not lead Zeon to glory, she wouldn't lead Spacenoids to freedom...but she would serve those who could.

Perhaps that was why she had remained behind, not out of devotion to his teachings but to prove herself worthy of them. After all he had claimed to have saw something within her, some promise or merit, so perhaps she had cast aside any hope for remaining at his side until she was worthy of it. When her disgrace at A Baoa Qu, when her inability to overcome her own fear and supplant that with her wrath was overcome...she would return to him.

So what was a girl to do? She had no trade...not beyond war, no prospects for the future, all she had was a burning desire to see the Federation pay, to see them fall for their crimes. The Federation, she had been born under that cancer ridden banner, unlike most of her fellow _Zeon_ , she was not a native to Side Three, only a immigrant. She had been born in Von Braun the largest and oldest of the Lunar Cities. Her father and mother both had worked in factories of Anaheim Electronics like many of the cities native populace. Her father was a branch manager while her mother had been a engineer but when a surprising offer came out of the remote Side Three, her parents had both been dispatched to the furthest colony from Earth.

' _My first time coming with my parents on a trip off the Moon...'_ She turned down one of the narrow alleys that pocketed the dilapidated and worn down township, Adyar was a dying city of less then 10,000 people, its nearby mines and mineral resources however prompted those stubborn and those without other options to remain and work in this place as their grandparents had, and as their own grandparents had. However its small population, remote area and general lack of attention from the Federation in lacking anything the planetary government would want or need made it a perfect place for those like them to dwell, at least for the moment...how long could they keep running though?

She'd give anything to go back to Zeon, Side Three but that was no longer a option, that place...her first true home was now denied to her, the Federation had ruined that too. _'So excited to go with them on a trip, so excited...'_ even now all those years later she could still remember the lead up to her first exposure to what would become Zeon.

 _The Autonomous Republic of Munzo_. This was years before the Principality of Zeon was born of course, but what did a name matter? Munzo? Zeon? It was the same place, it was her true home, even as a child she could feel it. In that isolated nation, she found something that she had been without her entire life in Von Braun. A sense of belonging, in that colony cluster even as a five year old child she had understand the fellowship and closeness that came from living within a community that depended upon every member to contribute, for everyone to further the glory of their nation. The same year she arrived however, was the year would change Zeon forever. _'Deikun died a few weeks into our stay.'_ The colonies went to hell aftermath, the Federation called the weeks that followed a policing action, but it had been a war. Her parents died in that brutality, an unfortunate accident according to the Federation. An unfortunate accident was what they labeled it, miscommunication and firing on noncombatants as a result. _'Bullshit the Feddies tell to themselves so they don't have to look at the corpses they left in the streets.'_ They had rolled tanks through city streets, and dropped bombs upon the space dock, while the people of Side Three rioted and torn what their leader had built apart.

She could still hear the screams in the darkness of night, the whizzing of bullets flying through the air, the stink of death and flame cloying the artificial air with its foul stench. They had been seeking shelter in one of the nearby service tunnels that were doubling as makeshift bunkers, she had could hear the fury of the combat being waged mere blocks as away as those who would be the first soldiers of Zeon, members of the then Munzo defense force warred with their counterparts in the Federation.

The _first war_ she reasoned, the first blood shed between what would become two mortal foils to each other.

As they filed family by family into the tunnel, she remembered roar of a cannon. The sound of its projectile arcing through the air, sailing upward, reaching its upward trajectory and then...then.

* * *

 _Black and red, she could scarcely see through the smoke but all she could smell and taste was blood. It clung in the air like thick metallic fumes and infected everything with its stench, what she could make out through the smoke numbed her. Even now years later the mere memory of it sent shivers down her spine, the bleach white of bone in stark contrast with the red pooling out of the bodies that lie prone across the street. Her heat raged above even the ever present gunfire and explosions, her mother's hand still tightly clinging to her own despite the fact it was missing a good portion of the arm it was meant to be attached to._

 _She screamed, she didn't know for how long but eventually her voice just gave out and she reduced to coughing, choking sobs._

 _She didn't know for how long she lie alongside the mounds of corpses, time had lost all meaning. The whimpering and cries of pain of the dying and wounded slowly faded out as time passed, she couldn't move, she couldn't do anything besides just breath and soak in the carnage._

* * *

She still remembered the whistle of that shell bursting upwards and unleashing a hail of anti personal fire that had ripped the crowd apart, limbs, gore and viscera turned the air into pink mist. Why had they done that? What purpose had their been in killing those people? They were obviously not rioters or looters and yet there had been no hesitation, no mercy. _'Fucking Feddies.'_ She spat out a globule of saliva marred yellow discharge from her sinuses , reliving those bitter memories just left her feeling worse about their current situation.

Her first taste of war before she was even ten years old. In twenty five brief seconds she had lost everything, she became a outsider in a distant and foreign land, no relatives, no family, nothing. She had gone from a child of wealth and privilege to a popper inside a single day, where once when her parents traveled she would receive sweets and gifts from strange and far away lands, she was reduced to asking for charity, begging and seeking government aid. All she had left of her prior life was her name. Truth be told even had she not been taken in as a ward of the state and placed into Zeon's way of living, she would have likely inherited all of their views regardless. To her the Federation was not some faceless, abstraction of politics and economic statistics.

It was the enemy.

* * *

 **January 28th, 0089**

 **Ruins of Athribis** **, Egypt, Earth**

 **1700**

The ancient and dead city shock under the violence of the shelling, pillars and walls that had stood countless centuries crumbled under their impact. Of course then their own return fire shook the ruins even further, rocks and clumps of grit and sand broke free of concealed firing points arrayed through out the mostly buried city. Gunports and missile racks revealed, they proceeded to return fire at the incoming Federal forces in support of their surface mobile suits. They had chosen their final bastion in Egypt well, Athribis was well situated, with its eastern flank covered by the Nile and no cover to advance from in any other direction. They had detected the Federation almost half a hour before their arrival due to their sensors and other detective measures arrayed across the sand strewn dunes and deadlands that had once been sites of agriculture and commerce. The site of their battle had long since been abandoned by humans, long before humanity had even touched the stars and yet even so the blood of the modern world would stain the sand red.

While the ruins themselves offered little to no protection Zeon had no need for the ancient's masonry to save them, they had built deep into the desert and constructed their own subterranean bunker complex, ironically using the very pits and dig sites that during peacetime had been excavation points. As sand cascaded down from loose paneling and through cracks in the ceiling as the chamber rumbled under the intense roar of battle above, she couldn't help but think that this very well could be their final battle. _Haman Karn_ was dead, much of what they had heard had been secondhand, and through scattered reports they had intercepted, but the leader of Axis Zeon was dead. The war she had unleashed across the Sides had ended, the surviving Zeon forces once more cast to the wind. Much like their own she supposed. The commander of the Principality Remnants in Africa- _Rommel_ of the Desert had perished valiantly in battle months ago but they had kept fighting a retreating battle across the sandy dunes, across the barren and dried out desert until they came upon their final stronghold within Egypt. What had once been a simple resupplying and munitions bunker became in all likelihood one of the final bastions of Zeon on Earth.

Passing through the narrow earthen passages that lead from the personal quarters into the ready room took a few minutes, mostly due to just how large the underground base. This had been one of their primary munitions and resupply bunkers in the entirety of Africa, one of half a dozen or so of its size spread across the continent. It could comfortably house hundreds, dozens of mobile suits and even had a vertical launch for aircraft, which would certainly come in handy given their method of escape relied on it. Entering into the single file doorway that marked her destination she eyed the portrait that adorned the bare stone and dirt wall to the right of the entryway.

 _'Gihren Zabi.'_ Raising her hand to her brow in a unconscious salute she held the posture until another crash sounded from above, blanketing the potrait in a fine layer of grime and dust. Her final Sovereign may have been a decade dead but they still fought in his name. Hopefully today they would send their leader some company in the afterlife if such a thing truly existed. The lifeless eyes of the 8 by 12 portrait met her own and she mouthed the words that actually meant something a decade prior when the final Zabi ruler of Side Three had actually lived.

"Sieg Zeon." Once that utterance had been a pledge of victory, of devotion to their homeland, now what was it? A reminder of a time now past? Of a government that had ceased to exist back in the opening day of the new year of 0080? The picture held no answers, the depiction of the eldest son of Degwin Zabi dressed in his tailored black and gold military standard held no insights for what that battle cry could mean in the present.

The constant clanking and rumble of artillery and cannon fire rocked loose debris loose from the carved stonework, it seemed her fellows were giving the Federation as good as they got. If the Federation was predictable they were approaching from the river and another sector in unison, trying to form up a flanking action and screen fire across their lines. _'Using the terrain and their superior numbers to their best effect.'_ It was hardly a revelation, it was textbook strategy truthfully. Scooping up her cracked and worn helmet she eyed the hardened and shaded glass with a appraising look, the crest of the principality adorned the armoring, the fading and scuffed sigil stood for all she fought for. Sliding the helmet into place on the table once more, and stripping out of her BDU in practiced efficiency was matter of course for her. She had been fighting for the past five years, while her once pristine olive drab normal suit was reduced to a patchwork of sewn in reinforcements and replacement bits, it still functioned, her fellow Zeon eyed her like she was insane when she donned the suit, it was sweltering after all in the desert and a normal suit was designed to retain body temperature thus only making it more uncomfortable.

Her bare and sun charred flesh felt the grit and flecks of concrete impact her, dig into her skin, adding to the welts and scars as thicker clumps of debris struck into her body as the ceiling continued to rumble, yet this couldn't be put off. She wouldn't pilot in her BDU, she refused, no she would wore what she had donned in space. It was why she clung to it, regardless of inconvenience, regardless of pain she would wear it. _'Pain is such a relative thing anyway.'_ That thought resounded within her skull. Her teacher had suffered horribly, she had felt that ring within her very being in sympathy and outrage, and yet her own body mattered so relatively little to her, this pain felt like nothing to her, was nothing. Just simple nerve responses and influx stimuli from her brain telling her body to avoid the falling wreckage.

Her life mattered to her, her body mattered to her of course, it was all she had yet she couldn't even be bothered to step aside. All that was left to her was her own cause, a few personal possessions including weapons, her mobile suit and her own life. All throughout her existence she had never cared about anything beyond her goal, beyond her own survival and only that due to it being a prerequisite to her goal of vengeance. Yet despite that drive for survival, despite her ultimately vain desire to continue existing to spread her pain to the people of the Federation...she found she had something else rattling around the old synapses, a desire to fight beyond the prospect of avenging those decades beyond caring, decades beyond even recognizing her.

Fingers clenched around the worn and dirtied fabric of the normal suit. Despite any inconvenience wearing this into battle might have presented it offered her some small amount of comfort.

She couldn't,wouldn't abandon the memento though. It was a reminder of her time as a soldier of their now fallen homeland, but more then that it was a reminder of the man who had always worn them into battle, her imitation of that behavior was the very least she could offer in tribute every time she went out to kill the enemy. Sliding into the well worn material felt like she was going home, she was incomplete when she wasn't piloting, she knew that, she was nothing without the ability to strike terror and death into the Federation, she lived for no other purpose then to make them pay now. Any chance for normality or a peaceful life had been ripped away long before she had ever become a soldier. Her bare muscled back was a story of that past, marred with almost a dozen thin scars and impact points, the warhead that had taken her family had very nearly ended her own life as well, but she had survived.

She endured it, just like she had everything that had followed that day.

She paused hand on her hip. That thought held in her mind. ' _Endure_.' That was what the _Captain_...the _Lieutenant_...her _teacher_ had told her before the onset of what would be the final battle of the war at A Baoa Qu. He would endure, he would fight, and he would rip victory from the corpses he left strew across the void. Recollections that stirred feelings she buried daily she let out a feral hiss of frustration, nails clawing into skin as she shoved harshly enough to draw thin lines of red to stain the flesh as to silence the memories and the feelings associated with them deeper within herself, burying them beneath wrath, hatred and malice.

This was not the time for introspection, she had to send more hapless Federation pilots to their graves. Finger nails stained crimson and letting out a steadying breath it was time to return to the reality of the moment. She had Feddies to kill.

Zipping into the flight suit she listened to the aged speakers of the intercom crackle to life as the muster call went out for all remaining pilots to report to the launch area, gripping her helmet as she paused to listen to the report. "Federation forces are incoming, at least half a dozen GM models, probably III's and II's supported by GM Cannons and air support." Walking to the staging area that acted as the hangar she was greeted by the sight of her fellow pilots, all of them looked worn and ragged from the constant months of being pushed back and forced retreats that had led them to this final base on the edge of the Nile. Their suits resembled their pilots apart from whatever garrison had been topside when the attack was launched on their base, all that remained were three Dom type mobile suits and two Desert Zaku, all of them looked as if they had been thrown together haphazardly repaired with whatever materials could be found to do the job, none were up to factory standard anymore. The massive chamber that acted as their launch point was designed to house at least a dozen suits, it was barely half full if one included her own, strewn about the room were containers of ammunition, fuel and replacement parts. _'Never thought I'd die on Earth, thought it would at least be back up in space.'_ She internally groused as she slid the worn protective flight helmet down upon herself, strapping it into place on her suit and making sure the connections were clear and secure.

Things had only gotten more and more dire since Rommel had fallen, before they had held off the Federation for a decade since the closing days of the One Year War but as things stood now they simply lacked the numbers and firepower, the Federation mobile suits were simply too powerful. It hadn't been until her arrival ironically enough had the men even seen a suit not fielded in One Year War itself, while her _Dra-C_ was not fitted for atmospheric usage and was thus utterly worthless dirtside she still had the original suit had flown at A Baoa Qu all those years before. One of the final productions of the great factories of the homeland, her _MS-06FZ Zaku II_. Known as the ' _Kai_ ' by the technicians at Zeonic during the closing days of the One Year War it was a refitted and refurbished unit, far superior to the common mass production Zaku II that were so well known during the war. _'Well old friend its a shame the first time I take you out in weeks is probably going to be the last.'_

She gave a faint smile at the worn and pitted green armor of her Zaku, patting it gingerly on one of its rear leg booster units, her entire body didn't even come up to the top of the booster installed into the suit to grant it more mobility, but she found the gesture reassuring all the same. The fifty ton war machine and her had been through a lot, it had seen the end of A Baoa Qu, it had seen off the Axis fleet when they had withdrawn from Granada, it hadn't borne witness to Stardust, but her mothballed Dra-C had, she supposed that was still aboard the transport plane where it had been since they had departed Bakifa when they were still retreating across Lebanon in the aftermath of Rommel's death. Back in the days of the Principality they would have personal claw units attached to the docking clamps for their suits to pull themselves into the cockpit quickly, but as things stood she would have to make do with a old fashioned climbing rope, giving a single glance upward at the fifty plus foot climb that awaited her she began. Pulling herself upward weighted down by a normal suit wasn't easy but her toned and athletic body more then made it possible. Clambering into the dusty interior of her cockpit, she began the slow process of activating the machine, booting up the onboard OS and having the power plant come online, it would take a few minutes but hopefully the forces topside would give the Federation pause enough for her to get her machine working before they kicked in the bunker door. Pulling the rope free and allowing it to slide down to the dust and sand ridden floor below, she heard the chirping signalling her mobile suit had a hail incoming, she triggered the line and immediately her headset radio began to transmit the message into her ear.

"Commander, you and Panzer Squad will hold off the Federation and buy us enough time for the transport to be readied for launch, we need at least another fifteen minutes before the Gaw is ready to take off." She gave a brief nod of the head at the mission objective, as it had been with the last four battles she had been involved in, they were merely to buy time for them to load up the transport with all the supplies and resources they could manage before retreating, thankfully the Gaw in question had been refitted solely to act as a transport plane and mobile suit carrier and could comfortably hold the entire nine suit compliment of their unit but even so... _'how many of those will be left after this battle?'_ Zeon forces in Africa had once boasted a arsenal of nearly five hundred mobile suits...she didn't know how many more splinter groups like hers were in operation still, but that number had been decimated, she had once fought in a battalion of a hundred mobile suits in clashes against the Federation and now was reduced to fighting them in a single squadron.

Never the less she had her orders and she would ensure they were carried out. "Acknowledged, Command. Panzer will deploy in two minutes." Sealing her interior cockpit as the machine revved, and its artificial limb monitors registered complete control as the status boards across the banks of monitors lit up bright green. She grinned. _'perfect.'_ With that thought in mind, she checked her suit's remaining load out, due to the sheer amount of shared materials and munition, customization was no longer merely encouraged it was required for survival. Her suit still possessed standard 90mm machine gun and heat hawk but beyond those basic tools, her Kai also had a arm mounted six barrel 75mm Gatling Cannon that was originally slated for a Gouf mobile suit back before the assigned unit was lost in battle, additional rear thrusters on the rigging for more maneuverability and increased speed that originally from a damaged Rick Dom that been in storage at a prior base they had held up within. Checking fuel and ammunition loadouts had once been the job of technicians but with the sheer scarcity of those remaining with them, it was up to each individual pilot to maintain and keep up with their machines. _'1,300 rounds for the 75mm...'_ That wasn't encouraging, the gun while effective at chewing through more lightly armored targets went through ammunition rather quickly. _'Four anti mobile suit missiles on the left leg unit.'_ Not bad considering that it would preserve her 90mm rounds a little bit. _'Three full clips of the 90mms and half a dozen grenades for the launcher...could be worse.'_ Comparatively speaking she was heading into this battle rather under armed, no doubt the Federation GM's possessed advanced beam weaponry, gone were the days of them firing those ineffective beam spray guns, now most of their mobile suits possessed the same line of beam rifle once used by the Feddie _White Devil_. But what was she supposed to do? Ask the Federation to come back later? They hadn't even been given a offer of surrender, their base camp was shelled the minute the Federation had likely pinpointed its location.

Toggling with the main camera, the cockpit was suddenly blanketed in surrounding imagery provided by the secondary and primary camera, her mono eye flashed as it activated. Power readings were steady, the reactor was still running fairly well, The primary thruster pack and subsidiary boosters were registering all good connections to their primary intakes. All in all her suit was as good as it could be given the circumstances and the timing in which they were forced to defend the base. Her Kai may not have been in its pristine factory make any longer, its green paint may have been flaking and rusting away but...it was still ready for what could be its final sortie.

 _'Not that I would take a offer of surrender, he didn't and I would never dishonor him in that way.'_ No she would die fighting today if it came to that. The groan of steel echoed through out the sealed chamber as her Zaku slowly took its first steps towards the large and sealed blast doors that separated the mouth of the hangar from the exterior desert. At her flank were the familiar sights of the five adjoining suits that made up Panzer squadron. "Well boys? You ready to kill a few more Feddies?" She joked as the massive steel doors began to slide open, she heard several short chuckles from her fellow pilots at the prospect as piercing beams of light shone through the widening gap blanketing her mono eye in flash for a moment before the camera adjusted to the desert sun beaming down upon the suit.

* * *

 **January 28th, 0089**

 **Ruins of Athribis, Egypt, Earth**

 **1700**

"Why can't you Zeke bastards just die already?! How many times do we have to kill you!" The Federal pilot screamed in venom soaked malice as he once again lunged forward with his beam saber, this wasn't a ideal situation not only was her suit outmatched in both terms of power and speed against this Federation unit but she was also stuck solely in a defense posture. _'Couldn't pull back to ranged distance without this bastard gutting me.'_ Her options for melee combat were limited solely to her suit's onboard heat hawk and unfortunately that ax was ill suited for dueling, especially considering the suit she was facing outclassed her's utterly in both mobility and strength. Pulling back her stick she had the suit reverse a handful of steps to avoid the deadly beam weapon, its blade stopping mere meters from her main camera, as she forced her leg thrusters to fire, eyeing the fuel meter she brought the suit into a hover before the primary thrusters on the back rig ignited propelling the Kai upward hundreds of meters in the space of seconds, bringing to bare the six barreled 75mm. The spuls of the weapon turned softly for just a moment before the engine powering the mechanism fired up and hundreds upon hundreds of rounds began to leave the six spooling barrels in the space of seconds. She unleashed a hail of rounds upon the GM causing it to nimbly back to avoid the surprise assault. The few rounds that actually connected seemed to do nothing to the suit's rather impressive armoring, her left eye twitched in irritation. Watching the ammunition counter dwindle down to nothing, she scowled as the gun ran dry, hitting the release mechanism on her suit's left arm the gun broke free from the arm of her Zaku before her scope registered another GM approaching rapidly from her rear.

Having the suit continued its upward thrust even as it groaned against the increased pressure on its frame, the attitude meter continued rise upward even as the leg thrusters cut out as she switched them off to converse fuel, having the suit spin backwards to avoid a burst of beam fire from the GM III she realized that without dedicated ranged support, there could be no victory over that machine, that it was when she decided to switch to a target of opportunity, the pilot approaching her from the rear, as fast as his thruster pack could carry him. Normally her Zaku would no doubt be slower then the more advanced GM line but her Zaku was no factory standard model, with its enhanced thruster rack which had originally been designed for maneuvering in the void of space on a Dom series of mobile suits, it contained as much if not more mobility then the GM II at least when confined to the gravity of Earth.

Her rear camera confirmed the sight, the dumb Feddie bastard was charging her with a beam rifle, obviously he was confident in both his suit and his own abilities if he was going up against a enemy with a weapon that put him at disadvantage if the fight went into melee range, no doubt he was simply awaiting a targeting lock on her machine before he popped a round or two into her suit and send her straight to hell. Unfortunately for that pilot, she wasn't any average Zeon and the increased mobility and speed from her thruster pack, couldn't be underestimated, she'd show him the error of his tactics momentarily.

Spinning the craft wildly to avoid a flank on her back she twisted rapidly into a bank, the aging mobile suit groaned and creaked as it was forced to endure maneuvers it had never been designed to preform on Earth. However as the heat hawk sprung free from her rear storage unit into her suit's awaiting right hand she grinned as her suit plummeted right into the mass production GM II that had been cruising towards her, she could see as its pilot tried to correct for the collision only for her to be a hair faster. "No!" She heard the pilot scream in absolute horror through suit to suit comms as the blade descended downward. The bladed edge of the ax bit into the titanium armoring of the suit, the heated blade seemed to pause for just a instant as it made connect. Time itself seemed frozen in that instant as she saw the friction and sparks leaping away from the machine as the heat hawk's generated current burned against the armor of the GM. Just before its power and momentum did their job and it cleaved squarely into the cockpit. That was when the beam round impacted into her rear thruster rig, the piercing energy cut through the thin steel armor of the pack before eating into the fuel and engines that were attached to her mobile suit, explosions rocked her suit as two of the six engines of the cluster ignited and flung her suit down earthward just as the GM II she had just disabled ignited into a fireball. Shrapnel and debris rained upon her suit as it crashed into the sand below.

"Well that could have gone better." She grumbled as she readjusted her harness before eyeing the camera readouts, there weren't any immediate threats but that could change in a instant. _'My poor Zaku.'_ Various status boards and readouts were all indicating severe damage to the left leg, and thruster rig was likely a complete loss. She'd have to get it up and running though, rerouting power through secondary systems and circuits would hopefully give the left leg at least some limited mobility, but that would take time.

"Fucking Zeke! That bitch killed Johnson!" She heard the Federation pilot from the GM III exclaim as the more advanced suit surged forward just as her own suit was trying to right itself from the sudden dirtside impact, her left leg servo's were fragged and movement at all from the limb seemed a miracle, there would be no fancy evasion from the blow this time, she'd have to be inventive. Gingerly her damaged suit raised itself upward, heat hawk at the ready she eyed the remaining Federation suit, she still had to buy a few more minutes before the Gaw was ready to take off.

* * *

 **February 11th, 0089**

 **Adyar, Indian Province, Earth**

 **1200 Hours**

Biting into the stale and hardened texture of the biscuit left her grimacing but she had little else to do. She needed to keep her strength up, to be an effective soldier she could not allow her body to fall apart, could not allow herself to weaken or become infirm. For the sake for her continuation of the war against the Federation she gulped down the cold breaded foodstuff and wiped the crumbs from her mouth with her offhand. The squalid warehouse that had become their temporary home kept out little of the chilled the air but all the same it was shelter and that was something precious to be had. They had been running from base to base all across Africa, never stopping just slowing. The Federation pursued them across the continent from one location to the next, and it continued like some sort of sick twisted game. They had to leave so much back in Egypt, they lost more and more supplies, mobile suits and even people with every flight...Even now they survived but to what end? What could come of this?

They were depleted, yet she had no doubt that the Federation would continue to pursue the surviving Zeon remnants across the planet, if they were found out, they would die. They no longer had the numbers or the firepower to fight another assault, and even if they did what would be the point? She carried on for her own blood lust, her path of destruction centered around that being a constant in her life, but the others fought for ideal, home and those they had lost. Their morale was shattered, their resolve was flagging and defeat hung like a dark cloud above them. They had only a handful of badly maintained mobile suits left to them, even the Gaw had taken some stray fire in its escape so it was grounded for the foreseeable future. There would be no further escape, no further maintaining of this charade of life. She knew it, everyone one within their band knew it, it would all end the next time the Federation found them.

She was content to die with her ax buried in a Feddie GM, she could only hope that her fellows were as well.

Being an officer in a irregular military force fell beyond the purview of her training but it was just another role she had fallen into once she had become a part of the organization. If not for Delaz no doubt she would have no scope of the task she had to undertake but due to his tutelage however limited it was, she had learned. Had learned how to fight against the Federation in this new era of war they now found themselves within, they no longer had the resources of a nation, the personal of a nation, they had to make do with what they could scavenge, purchase or steal however limited that was. All for the continuation of their fight, all for the rebirth of Zeon.

All for the sake of ending a few more Federation lives.

* * *

 **AN: Well that's the end of this portion of this little self contained story set up for Yuuka to explain away her presence in the sequel.**

 **Feel free to drop questions, comments, and such in reviews and if you did enjoy this remember to favorite and follow.**

 **Anyway till next time**

 **-Reborn Akatsuki**


	2. Awakening of destiny

**AN: The second chapter in Residual Impact and presumably the final chapter , nothing really more to say then that except I hope you enjoy it.**

 **Disclaimer: I still regretfully have no rights nor ownership in relation to Gundam**

* * *

 **February 24th, 0089**

 **Varanasi,** **Indian Province, Earth**

 **Durga Mandir Temple**

 **1200 Hours**

This entire thing from its coloring, to its make was an offense to her senses. Its dull reddish coloring. _'The color of ancient mud and blood.'_ The steeped roofs, the bounding halls, it was all designed to give a sense of grandness, but to who or what? The ruler that had ordered this abomination created centuries ago? Whose very bones were now undoubtedly dust? To a dying faith? It posed a significant assassination hazard as well due to the sheer vastness of the corridors, halls and open courtyards as well, one could reasonably hide an entire Feddie infantry division in there and still have room for armored support, it was also located far too close to the bounds of the center of the city, and that just set her on edge to begin with.

No she didn't care for this situation one bit.

This of course wasn't aided by the fact they had been kept waiting for the prior three hours, told to wait in a courtyard for the arrival of the man they were to meet. Her Naban pistol shifted within its holster she crossed her arms underneath her overcoat. It made sense she supposed to bring backup to a meeting like this, anything could go wrong but all this waiting was just putting her further on edge. It just kept building and building within her until finally with a short exhale through her petite nose she turned to the man sharing the bench with venom dripping from every word she spoke.

"How long are we meant to be kept waiting?" She hissed to her companion. It was one thing to travel across the bounds of the Earth being pursued and combated by the Federation every step of the way but it was quite another to be forced into a stationary location for overly long. They had traveled from Adyar along the river as long as their money and mobile suits had allowed before relenting to the fact that it would neither be cost nor time effective when a summons such as this was given. So they had come and while they had maintained their mobile suits as well as they could, not a single one was worthy of anything resembling extended combat, so this offer of tentative support was something of a blessing she supposed.

"As long as we need to." He gruffly shot back earning him a steely glare. They needed this she knew, but all the same it reeked of ambush to her senses, they were desperate and depleted and that would make them blind to danger, render them stupid to the obvious. Not her, be it her paranoia or her intense distrust of any Earthnoid it mattered no, she wasn't a fan of this course of action but she was outranked in this matter, both in terms of actual rank and numbers. The survivors that had come to India had no where left to them to run. So the course was set, this offer of alliance, of assistance, of both materials and equipment to continue the fight would be accepted, would be pursued no matter what she believed, insisted or demanded to the contrary.

Her fellows in the remnants would place their faith in this "Garvey" man none of them had ever even met and she would merely have to hope for the best. Perhaps all would go well, perhaps she would be proven wrong but until that instance, she would be on her guard.

"I still think this was a mistake." She offered glumly as her eyes continued to scan the thick throngs of would be worshipers for their contact.

"We have no choice, you know that." He offered grimly, his tone reflective of just how he felt on the matter. She supposed she understood where he was coming from, it was either this or they continued to run, hide and flee across the Earth until they were eventually pinned down and killed. So no matter the cost, no no matter what this man may want from them in return...they would be forced to pay it.

 _'If it proves genuine anyway.'_ She internally added. The politics of Earth were not what they were, in the aftermath of the One Year War, many factions within the Federation had chafed under the intense scrutiny of the paramilitary organizations that had formed in the aftermath of the original conflict between space and Earth. She didn't bother to keep her ear to the ground overly but she knew of a handful of resistance movements located upon Earth that had opposed the Titans and their ilk prior to the arrival of the Neo Zeon forces of Axis. She supposed that not all of them would be happy with the continuation of Federal control, but to support Zeon? Now that was truly an interesting conclusion to arrive to, especially given the break down of the alliance between the Anti Earth Union Group and Haman Karn's Zeon forces that had erupted into a full scale war of domination across the Earth merely months ago.

 _'No doubt we are just a cat's paw in whatever scheme this entails.'_ They would be treated as a sword, a cheap blade to employ and then cast aside when it was no longer needed. But hopefully in the interim of that they could gain what they needed and for the first time in months finally stop running, to resume the fight in all earnestness against the Federation, that was why she had come here. That was why she was willing to tolerate the long trek to this gaudy temple half way across the country. They would not see the revival of Zeon, she knew that, they could not rebuild what had been torn down by the Federation, they could not rebirth the dead into the world to take up their former stations in life. This would serve nothing save to slake their own blood lust.

Yet if this proved genuine, if this man could deliver what he had spoken of during his communication to the commander...perhaps they could achieve that. Perhaps she could find a nice mound of Federation corpses to collapse upon at the end of her own brief existence. After she made them corpses obviously.

As her eyes continued to pick people out through the throng of the crowd that were making their way into the temple proper she couldn't help but notice one that stood out. His dress for one thing struck her as out of place in a region such as this, a place such as this...I mean honestly who wore a suit, a white one no less to a temple such as this? What also stood out to her eyes were the other men that proceeded along with him. In tandem, ordered movements. Professional. They were soldiers, the bulges in their coats merely confirmed that, not that she had expected a man like this to meet with a bunch of Zeon without some form of protection,the protective detail however changed nothing. It made her mind buzz of thoughts of potential betrayal, of having to shoot their way out of this if things went sour but there was no hope for it. She merely had her role in this, she had to keep the commander breathing. Nothing else mattered, even if she perished in the attempt of that, it would change utterly little, this was perhaps their final chance at reversing their fortune. None the less she elbowed her compatriot in the side gently, it wouldn't do to make this any more obvious then it had to be.

The man they had been waiting for had arrived.

She could only hope Kirks would get what they needed out of this meeting.

* * *

 **February 24th, 0089**

 **Varanasi,** **Indian Province, Earth**

 **Durga Mandir Temple,** **Sanctorum**

 **1300 Hours**

She gave nothing save a polite and short greeting of the man along with a small bow of the head in recognition of his station when Kirks had introduced her as his 'bodyguard' and neither had the man they were to meet given her nothing save a rather bland and disinterested glance to begin with. At first there had been something perhaps a flicker of a recognition, but it was immediately pushed beneath the controlled veneer of impassivity. Perhaps she recognized that from her own rather unique genealogy she wasn't inherently native to the old Principality, or perhaps she caught him off guard by merely being a female in the garb of a soldier such as it was. Yet all the same there was no hostility in the gaze yet there was no compassion, no humility or earnest emotion within it either. She could tell off the bat that this man was one ruled by his own set of conduct, his own method of doing things. She could respect that, even if he found the concept of such a thin, scrawny looking woman being bodyguard of a man of Kirks's rather impressive stature and physique laughable.

This Mahdi Garvey, this head of the Garvey Enterprises, a tycoon who ran a mega corp that could rival even Anaheim had drawn them out of hiding with an offer of support and here they were. Located at the top of the circular rise in the temple, this 'Sanctorum' was apparently were the deity below was worshiped, as it stood the room above the place of worship was just a convenient meeting spot. A small table a handful of chairs had been casually arranged in the room prior to their arrival but all the same she like Madhi's own men merely kept to their feet, ready to defender their respective 'masters'. Both from outside interference and intrusion and of course...each other.

She expected betrayal here, she expected nothing save attempts at absolute destruction from Earthnoids, had come to expect nothing less then that. Yet all the same the meeting preceded cordially if not utterly predictably. Kirks knew the position they were in, Madhi knew it and there was no sense even hiding it. They had a scarce handful of suits, limited ammunition, transportation, and no prospects of ever recovering from this turn of course. Madhi would exploit that, it was expected. He promised them the backing of his production centers, additional support from Zeon forces still waging the war back up in space, all for the low, low cost of acting as his personal battering ram against the Federation. That was something she hadn't truly expected, she had thought the man initially to be an ideologue, some disenfranchised Federal citizen, perhaps a power hungry business magnet who wanted a private army of mobile suits on call but no.

His hatred for the Federation was laid bare in his method of speech, his contempt for its peoples, its laws, its culture, its entire existence. It was to be quite frank refreshing. For a time she had thought that all beneath the banner of the Federation were blind to its less then savory aspects, its corruptions, and vile practices but no if this man was any representative then there were those even on Earth that found the Federation repugnant.

"The terms are straightforward and I have precious little time to waste, do we have an accord?" His voice rolled across the circular chamber like freshly spun silk, his eyes squaring down solely upon Kirks whom looked like he had about had enough. The terms were generous she could grant Madhi that, for the first time in months they would have access to proper materials to repair their mobile suits, freshly forged ammunition, perhaps if they could link up with one of the splinters of Haman's Neo Zeon still operating in the Earth Sphere they could even get their hands on newly produced mobile suits. Yet all the same, they were humiliating for a soldier, she understood that they had all cast off their pride, to fight as they did against a foe they could never hope to defeat? You needed no pride to do that, merely the dedication to the cause to fight a never ending war.

"Yes, we are in agreement Mr. Garvey." Kirks offered a faint hint of a smile as he outstretched his hand across the table, Madhi for his part inspected the proffered hand with the same interest one may apply to observation of a diseased rodent, with about as much interesting in touching it.

"Good, now I am to return to Dubai and begin preparations for the first leg of our partnership, a test run I suppose one could say. I will provide you with what you will need be it in arms and information and in turn you will destroy whatever I deem worthy of destruction. Bloody the Federation well and we shall precede from there." He stated as he rose from the chair already apparently done with the meeting. Kirks rose slowly before giving the man a slight bow of the head in acknowledgement of respect, and she did the same yet her hand never left the hem of her overcoat, she could get into the interior and free her gun within the space of a few seconds, and be firing mere seconds later.

Combat after all was a combination of skill, preparation and the mentality of one willing to kill. She would never lack for any of those.

As the last of Garvey's men filed out of the room Kirks let out a weary breath and gave her a faint smile before ruefully shaking his own head.

Their meeting had gone well, they now had the support of one of the Federation's most wealthy and influential private interests, and with their help no doubt war would again be coming to the Federation in relatively short order.

She couldn't wait.

* * *

That was how five months passed. Five months of being supplied weapons and materials to wage their war against select Federation targets, five months of slaughtering the peoples and soldiers of the Federation. From trading hubs to military bases, cities and townships to commercial businesses. They put them all to torch under the direction of Garvey. Yet for every success they had things seemingly grew more strained between them and business magnet, she knew not the full story but from scant rumor and hearsay she had picked up that he was under increasing amounts of suspicion for harboring links to "Zeon terrorists". Yet for all the accusations he continued to supply them so they continued to serve.

Their relation was one of mutual self interest and it was that collective greed that kept both parties loyal.

Yet it wouldn't keep the Federation off their backs. Eventually this house of cards would come crumbling down and they would once again be cast to the wind should they survive the initial chaos. But that was their life now, they had been reduced to a wandering force, a band of soldiers with nothing, no homeland, no cause, no reason to exist beyond eking out a petty revenge against the Federation for a war now long over.

Yet even more then the pressures being placed upon their employer she learned of something she had been unaware of for far too long in those five months. The news was distressing yet even more then that it was sigil of her resolve. She would never stop, never forgive, never forget. The Federation would burn for what it had done to her and the people of Zeon, for what it had done to the Captain.

* * *

 **May 19th, 0089**

 **Attapeu, Laos, Earth**

 **1500 Hours**

She often frequented sites like this when she had the pleasure of a computer that was not attached to her mobile suit like this, private or pirated severs ran Zeon propagandist sites based out in remote locations that the Federation would likely never stumble upon. It was if one stepped into a time capsule. The old anthem of the Principality played through the cheap plastic speakers, the bright red, white and black of the flag hung in the background. She half expected to hear a speech from Gihren play, as if it was merely a prelude to yet another one of his speeches. The man had been a hell of an orator but she had would be honest in admitting that they tended to drag on a bit yet all the same she'd give up her _Zaku_ if she could only hear his words one more time in person.

Most of these sites dated back to those days shortly after the One Year War when most had no idea just had no idea what had befallen comrades, family, lovers. So many had died in the course of just a few days the military registries and databases simply couldn't keep up. Thousands had died in those few brief days, many more had vanished in the chaos and with the change in government scarce few bothered to honor those who had fought for the prior regime. So sites such as these could very well have been only the listing of such things outside the Federation archives or some dark forgotten basement in the old ministry of war back in Zum City.

She looked at the profiles, several had been added by those such as her in the aftermath of Stardust to chronicle the loss of so many that had flocked to Delaz's banner. The admiral himself was entered into it mere days after the event and his death confirmed, his stark hawkish features and keen eyes stared piercingly at her even through the poor resolution of the monitor. Undoubtedly more had been added in the aftermath of the new war, after all Neo Zeon had not boasted of so many that its ranks could not be properly accounted for and that was why she came.

Whenever she could, whenever she could spare the moment or time to potentially invite the trauma that she knew awaited her upon finding such news would bring.

The folder for Neo Zeon pilots was surprisingly slim apparently only a handful had been worthy of their own mention on separate profiles the rest were consigned to the same simple memorial listing that had been ongoing since the days after the Zeon War of Independence. She recognized a handful of names that adorned it but not many. Haman Karn was obviously the most prominent listing on the entry yet she continued to scroll through the loss record she found a name that had been absent mere months ago yet had apparently been added in.

 **Dieter Kries.**

Instantly she found her finger slamming upon the mouse jerking it towards the profile and repeatedly slamming down on the triggers. Cursing aloud as the slow connection processed she found her thoughts raging. She had been dreading this, expecting this, yet she had never wanted this. Never wanted this to happen again, to have another life stolen away from her, to have one of the few people who had ever reached out and attempted to interpose himself in her life. Not with unwanted sexual advances or lust, not with jealousy born of the encouraged rivalry within the Academy, he was...unique.

* * *

 **Dieter** **Florian** **Kries**

 **Service Rank: Captain**

 **Mobile Suit Squadron Commander**

 **Commander of Task Force: Sword Fish**

 **Zeonic Group Affiliation: Principality Of Zeon/Grand Duchy of Zeon(Formerly) UC 0070 - UC 0079**

 **Zeon Forces of Axis (Formerly Under Haman Karn ) Reconstituted into Neo Zeon**

 **Neo Zeon (Under Haman Karn)**

 **DOB: June 19th, 0054 UC**

 **DOD: January 19th, 0089**

 **Age at death: 35**

 **Cause of death: KIA/Killed In action**

* * *

The familiar sight of his image burned itself into her retina as she saw the profile come up listing off his various ranks and branches of service, missions he had partook in; yet there it was. Despite all his skill, despite all of his strength and reserve even he had apparently fallen, the date of his death matched up with many of the numerous new entries, the final battle of the Neo Zeon War. The fall of Haman Karn, the defeat of Axis.

Her memories drifted and despite herself she felt moisture beading at her eyes only for her to hurriedly wipe it away.

Words spoken a decade prior echoed through her ears, words of wisdom that would apply to this very scenario. _"The first, harshest test of leadership is to watch one of your subordinates die in front of you and not let that get to you. I've gone through it, Vice Admiral Dozle went through it, and you'll go through it one day."_ How was she to apply that here though? How was she expected to not feel anything? It was just another confirmation she did not need, the Federation would rip everything it could from her, it would likely even came her life in the end...Was this what awaited her? To be a little name or profile on some shadow net site ran out of a shoal zone or pirated across the Federation? Was this her future? To be some placard on a wall of ' _fallen heroes to the cause'_ the mere notion caused her to let out a hacking sob of laughter even as the tears continued to stream down her face in unabating waves.

 _June 19th, 0054 UC-January 17th, 0089 UC._ She knew he was young but to die before he even reached her parents age before death? War cared not she knew it came for all in leaping bounds no matter age, nor gender or affiliation it would claim anyone and everyone it could. This meant nothing, was nothing, now with him gone, with all possibility of future interaction, of future distraction she could resume as she had prior to meeting him all those years before. She would care only for herself, love only herself, fight for only herself.

The dead do not care for the what the living do.

Yet even as her bare fist smashed into monitor easily piercing into the internals of the cheap plastic and glass, feeling it cut and bite into her bare skin she retracted it pulling it free of the sparking and crackling screen. Ignoring the thin streams of red that dripped downward from her hand as she stood upward. She knew what she should do, how she should react but she couldn't stop crying. It was pathetic, she knew even he would deride her for that, would mock her commitment to the goal of Zeon, to claiming retribution for her parents. For him.

That aching wound that had erupted within her chest could not be stilled or silenced though so as she slipped downward to the floor of the cheap motel room that she had been assigned she could help but allow the tears to continue to fall. Tomorrow she reasoned, bargained internally, tomorrow she could put this ghost to rest for good, allow it to drift into the memories of past that she never allowed herself to delve into.

* * *

 **June 14th, 0089**

 **Azerbaijan,** **Masally, Earth**

 **MS-06FZ Zaku II**

 **0900 Hours**

Her machine gun did not stop firing until the entire magazine of 90mm had completely been cycled and ran through its overheating barrel. Streams of mist and vapor poured off the weapon in the chilled rain fall. The target of her aggression, of her fury crumbled downward; despite its thick armoring its once smoothed and pristine body impacted the broken and chipped concrete bellow in multiple pieces. Artificial limbs and manipulators crashed down alongside the downed GM III. _'Bastard thought he was clever hiding in the rubble of the target...'_ He had been mistaken to reveal himself to her though, he could have rode out this assault, survived this battle and now he wouldn't.

Ejecting the spent magazine from her 90mm machine came like clockwork precision as the emptied drum fell to the street below only to be switched out for a filled replacement. The drifting smoke and smoldering flame that came forth from the target was still visible in the rear monitor even as her machine turned about and began marching towards the secondary target area. The once proud spire, symbol of the Federation's wealth and prosperity down here on Earth had come crashing down courtesy of three armor piercing missiles she had on her Zaku's left leg thruster pod. It had been a fitting target she had reasoned, an administration office assigned to Earth borne military to monitor and react to situations in the Caucus and South East Asia. _'Though the buried GM had been a surprise...'_ She had not been expecting any resistance beyond the token handful of mobile suits she and the rest of the squadron had encountered. This depot town was supposed to be heavily undermanned, practically deserted was the wording Garvey had used. All the same though she still had to complete the rest of her portion of the mission and then they could finally get out from the thumb of Garvey. One final favor for a favor. Perhaps only she had grown sick of this arrangement perhaps Kirks and the others thought nothing of it, were content as along as they had a opponent in the Federation and the means to fight it but she could no longer stomach it.

This was never going to bring the Federation down, they were at best minor annoyances to it, inconveniences. They lacked the means and manpower to mount a proper offensive, a proper war.

After this they could be free of him, free of the petty chains of hatred that anchored them to him. No matter his history with Zeon, no matter how storied their own partnership was...at the end of the day he had his own objectives, his own goals and they were not their own. She would not be the instrument of some petty religious dispute between one man and the Federation.

As her Zaku continued forward through the winding narrow streets of the township her view of the upcoming right turnoff was blocked by a fairly sizable office tower that placed along the siding of the road. It was one of the few structures that actually measured above just a few stories instead it was nearly twice the size if not more then most surrounding buildings. If she had to hazard a guess she'd put the paned glass structure at around perhaps eight or more flights nearly twice the size of her own Zaku.

That was why she hadn't seen it coming, that was why it was only a sudden sensor warning that alerted on the passive radar that the incoming GM was charging her way. It was only by that metric that her aging machine and herself avoided doom. The beam saber snapped into existence as the tightly clung and energized particles ate through the corner space around the corner of the building scarcely avoiding her mounted main camera as she worked the sticks scrambling back forcing the machine to withdraw step after step, the attacker did not let up though. Breaking from the cover of the building it rushed forward as quickly as its bipedal locomotion would allow it to. Her machine gun was already raised, already firing as it as bum rushed her yet as the rounds sank into the suit it continually shrugged them off even as the ammunition counter was running dry, even after several repeat torso hits, the charge did not cease and then it was upon her.

Firing off her leg mounted anti mobile suit missiles from the battery was too little too late and she already knew it even as they flew past the target due to her having little to no time to actually properly angle the suit to fire and hit a rapidly moving target like another mobile suit. Yet this was all she could, she would not die this way, she would fight and struggle and survive again and again. Yet as the beam saber came towards her once more, she knew that she had no method of countering such a destructive melee tool, not with a rifle, not without having her own heat hawk at the ready yet it would take far too long to actually draw and ready the weapon for it to be any sort of use here.

She was stuck, she had been caught flat footed and it would cost her, her life.

 _'Such is war...'_ That thought came to her as the beam saber decapitated her Zaku. Severing its main camera from torso, casting her cockpit into static ridden darkness as its power feedings and couplings were bisected and burnt out. Controls went slack as the machine became unresponsive as circuits overloaded and motors on the aging decade old machine finally gave out. She could not defend herself, she could not even see the final blow coming, it was a dreadful way to die she knew yet it would not be her end.

Neither she nor the pilot of the GM II had saw what was approaching them down the main road from the rear, neither she nor the GM pilot had noticed that a Dom had broken through from the other section of the town having already completed its own assigned task of destruction neither she nor the GM pilot were aware that in just a few brief minutes this newly arrived machine would change everything.

* * *

 **June 29th, 0089**

 **Beirut , Lebanon, Asia Territories, Earth**

 **Port of Beirut, Garvey Enterprises Deep Ocean Hauler: GE 109**

 **1900 Hours**

"Who are we waiting for? Zimmerman?" Kirks questioned the assembly within the tanker hold, the long expanded space that was designed to hold large amounts of cargo had become the would be meeting ground for this assembly of the Zeon remnants based upon Earth and Garvey himself along with...a sponsor he had been unwilling to name in prior communications. They had simply been informed to arrive here, today, a few hours beforehand. It had been a hectic period over the past few weeks in the aftermath of the raid on Masally. That entire operation, its results and aftermath had apparently resulted in this.

It had irritated whomever was holding Garvey's leash, his proper master enough for them to deem coming down to Earth worth the potential risk just to insure investments. That was just her take on it, one did not arrange meetings like this if they were pleased with results, no if that had been the case then a simple phone call or another sort of ranged communication would have sufficed.

Yet perhaps the oddest measure requested of them had been to provide armed security and protection against potential intrusion and threats against the meeting. It wasn't until they had arrived had she understood the request, Garvey had brought his family to this meeting, it was insanity. Why would he drag his child, his wife into such a potential risk? Yet again however this question could be easily answered by her own musings, although not anywhere near guaranteed to be accurate she would assume this to be the case.

Once again the person above Garvey had requested it, perhaps to indicate just how seriously the business magnate should take this meeting, indeed and Garvey's own request at their protection of the meeting would come as no shock then. It obvious that he did not trust this meeting to end peacefully, did not expect it to end peacefully, he wanted assurances of his own and his family's safety. Though it was obvious he had never desire to test the boundaries of whom at the start of any confrontation would they be loyal to. While they had never met the sponsor it was obvious they were Zeon, no one else could have supplied Garvey with as much equipment and information on Federation targets, it was blindingly obvious.

Yet this petty deception aside, she did not wish harm to come to Garvey, she merely wanted him out of her life, out of their lives. She wanted to resume her own war against the Federation, she did not want to be bound to his cause for eternity and perhaps this meeting would provide her an out.

That was what found her, on this day, in this dank tanker hold that stank of rust and piss. Surrounded by armed men, the dim and dull lighting of the tanker itself provided a sober if somewhat off putting atmosphere for the meeting but it would also provide some measure of security given that any sort of surveillance would be able to penetrate the thick and strong metal of the various decks and holds of the tanker that laid above them. Yes it made sense to do this at the recesses, at the very bowels of the ship, it would be as safe as could be...at the very least from the Federation.

Whomever they were to meet here could obviously be a different story.

"I despise having to come down here personally Garvey." That voice.

The voice she heard could not be real, it could not be a reflection of the state of reality, that voice belonged to a dead man, a man whom she had been informed had died months ago.

As the figure who bore the voice that could not be real descended down the runged flight of stairs into the meeting place she noted the appearance of the man. He was dressed well, civilian finery, a well cut suit, tie, dress shoes, ironed shirt. He looked the part of a business mogul, a executive, not a veteran warrior but the eyes, they were the same. His eyes. _'Is he really alive?'_ After all this time...after all this waiting, after she had thought him dead. The scars, the damage ingrained to his flesh remained, it was him yet as his eyes scanned the room and met her own there was nothing there beyond a brief recognition before they returned to Garvey's own.

"Now let us discuss the loss of that pilot and machine in Azerbaijan." Just from the mere tone of his voice she could pick out instantly that this was not going to be a pleasant conversation for Mr. Garvey.

Perhaps he had been right to bring along his own personal security to this meeting...

* * *

The meeting did not last long perhaps another few minutes before the tanker was to be stormed by Federal special forces and though in hindsight she knew the cause, became privy to just how the Federation had learned of their location and launched a sudden assault the flight from Beirut was among the harrowing escapes of her entire life. Garvey likewise escaped due to the sacrifices of both the Zeon soldiers present and his own personal security it was from this event. This attack that the next stage of what would be the lead up to the next incursion by Zeon against the Federation would lay its seeds into the soil to take root years down the line.

From this Federation assault Garvey was confirmed to be harboring ties to Zeon remnant forces and though he had escaped back to his homeland the noose was to tighten further around his neck in the coming days. Likewise this was how Zeon came into the care of Garvey's young daughter Loni while Madhi himself and his wife escaped due to the sacrifices of others the young girl was left behind. Perhaps not by choice given the events surrounding the separation yet separated all the same they were.

As for her? There was no time for small talk, no reminiscing about years past for her, no. She was hurtled quickly into operating once more with the Captain but there was no time for small talk preparations for _'what had to be done'_ needed to be completed. The Captain had deemed Garvey a liability following the assault, had considered his use as a asset here on Earth to no be next to none and given that he knew too much about the overall state of affairs for both the earth based and space based Zeon forces...he had to be removed from the picture.

And so he would be.

* * *

 **July 8th, 0089**

 **Dubai, Federation Middle Eastern Territories, Earth**

 **Garvey Enterprises Main Branch, Office Tower, Penthouse**

 **1100 Hours**

"You thought you could abuse my generosity, thought you could use our soldiers, our people for your own ambitions and I am here to tell you today that ends."

"What are you..." Who was this man to speak to him in such a manner?

"I gave you one directive and that was to supply the forces of Zeon stationed on that festering mudball, not use them to act out as your private militia. I don't care what petty grudge you hold against the Federation, it is superseded by my own." The sheer arrogance of this man was infuriating! How dare this bastard of a dead cause seek to lecture him on what he was right to feel, to do in the name if his faith, his god! This leftover of Zeon may have came from a more notable faction but they were cast offs all the same, denied everywhere they went for fear of the Federation's wrath if it was ever discovered.

It was he who had risked himself, obliged himself to these people at this bastard's direction no less!

"Do you have any idea who I am?!" _'I am Madhi Garvey!'_ He was important, a man of influence and wealth, a man of god.

"The better question would be do you have any idea what sort of man you have made your enemy. I am not the Federation, I will not drag you before a court to declare you guilty, I will not hesitate to dirty my own hands with your blood...with your wife's blood, with that adorable little girl of your's blood." This monster he had aligned with had made his position adamantly clear. It had become clear that the Federation was not responsible for his wife's abduction but the very man he had invited into his home, a man he had treated with and offered his support to.

It was insanity, why would he dissolve this alliance now? To assuage some pride in the aftermath of Azerbaijan? So what if those Zeon had lost some of their precious mobile suits, some of their pilots, they were only capable of fighting due to his generosity, due to his connections, due to his industry. These spaceborne parasites, these infidels had lost sight of the true master in this relationship.

 _'...With that adorable little girl of your's blood.'_ He had also gotten to Loni? That should have been impossible she was after all safely under guard...surrounded by Zeon. Was this mutiny universal or was this officer, this follower of dead men and women solely responsible? He didn't know but what he did know was that this bastard had started a war this day.

A war he would win because he had the backing of god on his side, not some theory proposed by a dead man.

Yet all the same what would this man do to his wife? His child? To him if he was not appeased? That sent a shiver through his frame despite his anger.

"What have you done?" What had he done? What sort of mutilations or torture had this bastard subjected his wife to? A man who killed as easily as he breathed, a man who inflicted suffering because he found it needed, there could be no mercy, no compassion from someone like this. He knew that, had known, but he had fallen in with him all the same.

The glass of water long left abandoned on the teak desk began to vibrate its contents slopping over the rim. Indeed the outward window to the west began to vibrate intensely, the paned glass flexing inward as it was subjected to air pressure that was entirely unnatural.

"I have ended our agreement." The building itself despite being designed to weather the worst of what nature could offer it, designed to weather storms and typhoons of the sea, earthquakes and landslides it trembled ever so slightly.

"What do you mean! What do you mean you son of a bitch! Answer me!" He screamed, he raved, he ranted over the phone but was only met with silence on the other end. It was not until flash of blue, the resounding light from a camera mount caught his eye at the far end of the room did he understand what was going on. As the machine coasted backward the propulsion from its thrust shattering windows and even sending winding cracks and breaks in the reinforced storm plating of his own penthouse he understood exactly what this man had set into motion.

He had indeed ended their agreement. As the machine hefted upward what appeared to be some sort of rocket launcher and shouldered it he couldn't help but to think of escape, of some means of surviving this. Even as it fired, a flare of red and fire as it discharged its high explosive death to him, he wanted to survive, he couldn't die here. Not like this, not to Zeon's petty politics or this bastard's ambition. He was meant to be the one to bring the Federation to it's knees, to remind it of a time when it had done the same to a billion others like him, to remind them that no matter how many decades passed that their faith would allow no forgiveness, no mercy to them.

As the window burst inward from the rocket as it breached into the building, as he was scaled with glass and bits of debris he couldn't help but to scream as the warhead detonated. As flame and force destroyed the room, as fire ate at at the interior of his throat and ceased all conscious thought, his very ability to scream he couldn't stop but thinking that this man, this Zeon, was the harbinger of a day of judgement, not just for the Federation but perhaps all of humanity.

Some demon cast into the flesh of man like some abominable golem of ancient folklore. As rubble cascaded down around him, as the building itself groaned and the uppers floor began to cave inward due to the explosive strike as his ear drums burst from the concussive force his eyes even as they melted within his skull never left that mobile suit that had done this. Acted the part of a loyal beast of burden to this man who seemed to act the part of a final tribulation walking the earth.

Yet the irony of it being a Federation machine was not lost upon him.

Indeed it was that followed him into his grave, the very notion of his death being blamed upon the Federation when it had come from such an ardent adapt of the Principality.

* * *

 **July 8th, 0089**

 **Dubai, Federation Middle Eastern Territories, Earth**

 **RMS-179 GM II**

 **1100 Hours**

Readying the Hyper Bazooka and bringing it upward from its mount was child's play despite the weapon's immense bulk and size. After all she had been making usage of a much lesser powerful machine to heft around similarly sized weapons. If there could be one positive from flying this heap of Federation scrap it would be that she could grant that it was a well designed, powerful unit. Though that was something she was already intimately aware of from personal experience abet on the other end of the armor.

As the mobile suit lifted upward its powerful thruster modules propelling hundreds of feet into the air as it coasted above once thriving centers of commerce, industry and business towards the perhaps the most prominent location still standing within the once great city of Dubai. The head quarters of the multinational Garvey Enterprises. It stood out as easily the most noteworthy. The mega skyscraper was easily 3,000 feet tall, she wouldn't even bother to count off the floors she passed as she ascended as quickly as the propulsion unit on the suit would allow her to. To the machine's credit due to its increased module size of the backpack it could carry a fair bit of fuel, which was her primary concern with the Captain's method of assassination to begin with.

Due to the building's sheer height coasting upwards to the top floor and the penthouse would have been impossible with even her modified Kai operating at peak condition which was impossible now. It simply couldn't carry enough fuel or propel itself fast enough but to this GM's enhanced thrusters that was easily within its operation's limit.

That was how she reached the upper floors of the tower, how when finally ascended to the penthouse she was still capable of additional flight time. Even as her thrusters blew out windows and send showers of glass to the street before all that lay before her was the mission and the solemn declaration of her loyalty. To him, to his cause, to his ambition, she would see them fulfilled because they were the only thing worth fighting for anymore.

Garvey was a thorn to be plucked from his side, to cast suspicion and doubt upon his enemies with this method of assassination was her role, her duty. Her duty to him, one simple command and she would forever be welcome at his side, she would not be cast aside again, she would not dishonor him again; she would fight for him.

There was no hesitation, there was no remorse.

No doubt or misgivings, she fired into the building, again and again and again until the bazooka's magazine was emptied and the upper floors of the tower were a mass of burning rubble.

Now all there was left to this was to meet at the assigned location and finally see this ended.

Dieter Kries, the Captain awaited her.

* * *

 **July 8th, 0089**

 **Adyar, India, Earth 1200 Hours**

 **Zeon Remnants Headquarters, Central Warehouse District**

 **1100 Hours**

"Goodbye Mr. Garvey." he offered succinctly to the empty now line. The resounding cold and artificial dial tone his only company.

With that personal touch now complete all he needed to do was Yuuka to confirm the deed though he already had personally heard what had occurred. Still protocol had to be followed, if by some miracle Garvey had survived the initial strike undoubtedly Yuuka would have followed up the with the complete destruction of the building itself. That would prove somewhat excessive but he was willing to tolerate any potential attention it could bring as long as the job was done.

Indeed now all he needed to do was to bide his time until that confirmation could be given and then they could precede to the next and final stage of the operation. Garvey had proven an adequate source for him, one that would be replaced easily nor quickly yet all the same the man had stepped beyond himself and that he would not allow.

He couldn't have allowed it, even if the Garvey himself was worth more to him alive then what he had cost him so far, the situation was untenable, due to his own fervent opposition to the Federation it was only a matter of time until potential links were discovered and proven outright. This was damage control, preventive measures designed to ward off attention to himself and his own ambitions, nothing more. Yes he had his own war to prepare for, steps and plans to put into motion, and every day, every hour, every second he put his focus and energy on to this he was further delaying his own schemes.

* * *

"It's done." Her voice. Yuuka's voice came across evenly despite coming over the creaking and mechanic noises of the interior of the cockpit. Nodding his head gently, swaying it back and forth as if to music only he could hear he gave her a single word of confirmation. "Excellent." Clicking the burner cellular phone closed before promptly throwing it down harshly to the chipped and concrete below. It crashed against the solid surface but he wasn't done yet, bringing down his well to do heel repeatedly split the plastic, shattered the frame and spilled the electric internals of the device across the floor. It had taken a bit longer then he would have liked but done was done and dead was dead. That would teach Garvey to never underestimate what he was willing to sacrifice to the cause.

What depths he would sink to, what he would do to accomplish the divine mission that had been handed down to him. The businessman had thought himself invaluable, beyond his touch, beyond any paltry threat he could command safe as he was within his tower. He had been proven incorrect on that facet and now there was just one final loose end to tie up before this chapter could be properly closed.

Palming the .38 within his hand he strolled to the far corner of the dark warehouse amid the pouring rain and season weather he doubted anyone would hear gunfire and even if they did...this area of town was a slum. Had been a slum, gangs and other assorted lowlifes had been commonplace here for centuries there would be no fuss over this. He ignored the pitiful mewling and sobs that escaped the bag that had been placed atop the woman's head to bind and blind her. He looked at the sight before him not as another person, not even as a woman or innocent caught up in his quarrel but as just another stage of the operation to complete. At the figure arrayed within the steel folding chair before him he raised upward the sleek frame of aluminum alloy, wood and steel scarcely lining up the sight with his primary eye before firing. Once, twice, three times, four times, five before all the chambers of the revolver were spent.

Letting the pistol slipped from his gloved hand into the awaiting plastic baggy that he had prepared was nothing but second nature after all this weapon was now linked to the murder of one Yasmin Garvey and it wouldn't do for the spouse of such a prestigious backer of the Zeon to be found dead in their care. No she would be delivered back to Dubai in shape enough to be identified, of course found in the _'appropriate spot at the appropriate time'._ It would serve his purpose as another sign of the cruelty and corruption of the Federation if nothing else.

All the same though he couldn't help but ponder even if for just a few brief seconds what would become of the girl, it would be better if she was killed as well it would undoubtedly lead to trouble if the truth was uncovered yet all the same...killing a child for the sins of the father seemed a bit extreme, even to him. Besides it would give that girl some motivation to be a proper soldier, having lost her entire family to the Federation would cement any doubts in her mind on to who the enemy was, yes by this design of his no doubt this Loni would grow up having a deeper resentment for the Federation then he'd ever deemed possible by merely living under the banner of _'Madhi's Cause'_. After all it was this very sort of suffering that had led him to Yuuka all those years prior, indeed this repetition might very well one day give him another soldier to put upon the field but those thoughts were indeed for the future.

As it stood now he had little use for a twelve year old in the coming war. He wasn't Char or Glemy after all.

* * *

 **July 16th, 0089**

 **Beirut , Lebanon, Asia Territories, Earth**

 **Port of Beirut, Garvey Enterprises Deep Ocean Hauler: GE 109**

 **1900 Hours**

"Did you turn the girl over to Kirks?" He questioned aloud as she entered into the lower tanker holds where he had been awaiting her arrival.

As she descended the same stairs he had weeks ago she still couldn't believe this mirage of her own imagining. That _Dieter Kries_ , _the Black Phantom_ , her _teacher_ , _mentor_ , the one who had extended not charity nor scorn but understanding to her once again stood before her. He had never coddled nor babied her, he had never offered sympathy or comfort, he had imparted his view of this world, of being a soldier to her and that was all. She was to either be worthy of that or she was not. There was nothing between the two in his eye, and she agreed.

"Yes...Ms. Garvey is going to be looked after then?" She questioned aloud, she did of course admittedly see some parallel between herself and the now orphaned girl. Yet she had chosen this, after the Federation had killed her parents and she left alone and orphaned in Side Three, falling under the sway of the Zabi nationalism, and Zeon contolist ideologies that promoted war against the Federation had been as natural as breathing. Yet this girl had been denied her right to a peaceful life, though she supposed it would have happened either way, even if she had personally pulled the trigger that had ended her father's life, she would have never been allowed to live peacefully, Madhi had been a ticking time bomb that much was obvious now.

He had been tactless and aggressive, even if the Captain had not come down to Earth to supervise his removal...he would have gotten himself killed eventually anyway. So perhaps it was better this way, perhaps she would be raised as she had a foreigner among the Zeon yet a patriot to their cause all the same.

"Of course. It's only right for us to look after the victim of such a savage attack by the Federation." He quipped aloud as she heard the familiar click of a lighter, the sudden flash of light illuminating the darkened tanker hold for an instant, then the overly strong and pungent odor of tobacco assaulting her noise. _'Still smokes the same brand even after all this time...'_ It really was him. She could pick out the telltale scent of Side Three's _'Royal Reserve'_ anywhere, after all it was a brand she had briefly taken up herself prior to the close of the One Year War. Some homage or imitation of the Captain in order to honor him.

But all the same it was good her that the young Loni would be taken care of. Kirks seemed to have taken a liking to her anyway, perhaps he could provide a stable father figure to her in place of Madhi.

"Good." She simply commented.

"Good now then kid...its high time we talk, after all its been a few years." She didn't miss the slow curving upward of his lip as he stepped towards her.

"It has been sir." She sounded off in agreement. Among all the details she noticed about the Captain whom had resurfaced once more in her life after near a decade's absence was that his body still bore the trademark of his battles against the Federation and apparently he had even acquired a few new ones if the limp on his left leg was anything to go. _'I wonder if he still dopes to suppress the pain?'_ That was something she had wondered upon occasion over the years, if he had remained in a constant steady stream of pain, with the only way to management it being regular doses of morphine or other high tier medicinal pain killers.

She would not ask though, it was not her place not as a soldier under the command of the man and not as a woman who owed him. He could keep his dignity in that regard and she wouldn't begrudge it.

"I trust you have been keeping well? I must admit I was surprised initially when I strolled in here just a few weeks ago and discovered you were among those following Garvey." He rounded off, his gaze even and it was clear he was expecting an detailed account of just what had led her to this moment, to being once more in his presence.

And so she told him.

Told him the tale of herself since they had last encountered each other all those years ago in 0083 UC.

At the end of that tale in the dank hold of that ship he made her an offer, one she had been expecting if somewhat dreading the absence of if it should it not come but all the same it came. She was relieved, she was thrilled, she was enthralled. The prospect of fighting at his side was pleasant, she had never encountered a person who had made her feel...anything, being at the side of one who pushed past the base and trivial to the core of her was something she was pleased by.

And it was offered to her at such a low price.

She had always been a tool for war, a soldier, trained in the art of killing, it was all she had ever wanted to be. All she had ever thought to be, she had lost herself in hatred and fostered an unquenchable desire for blood, the Federation would pay for what it had done. For so long only that had mattered, until him, until he had come into her life.

Shown her another aspect of war, one she had never looked into, to combine the role of avenger and patriot, to believe in something, a society, a civilization, a people.

She owed this to him.

She would follow him.

As his words followed out all she could hear over the hammering of her own heart within her chest was what awaited before her, his proposal was put so simply.

 **"Come with me."**

 **"Fight for me."**

 **"Help me to realize my dreams of a new Zeon."**

 **"Be my sword."**

 **"Give me your strength to realize my ambition."**

 **"I offer you this** **Yuuka Ashihana. Become my weapon and help me see this through."**

How could she refuse that?

How could she willingly turn away from him again? When his absence, his supposed death had nearly ruined her outright?

Like a junkie leaping on a fix, she readily agreed.

She would fight for him, him and only him. This she swore, swore in her name, in the name of Zeon. From this day until her death she would spill the blood of his enemies.

* * *

 **AN: Well there we go the lead up to: Sword of Zeon circa the perspective of Yuuka. She's been quite busy since the close of the Neo Zeon War if you couldn't tell from the Two Shot. Got to meet all sorts of interesting people who would become prominent in Unicorn. All the same though with this tie in fic now completed, I can focus the majority of my attentions back towards the primary narrative.**

 **I do hope you have enjoyed reading it if you got this far though feel free to leave me a comment expressing if you didn't care for it.**

 **All the same I do hope that you will all follow, favorite and review.**

 **Till next time**

 **-Reborn Akatsuki**


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